No. 1 regionally seeded UK baseball suffered a shattering loss on Saturday evening, as they were defeated by No. 3 North Carolina State by a final score of 5-4 in front of a record 4,742 fans at Cliff Hagan Stadium. 

The Cats must now win three games in a row to advance to super regionals in Louisville next weekend. 

“There is no pressure for us,” right fielder Tristan Pompey said in regards to the elimination game tomorrow. “We have been in this situation since we started the season off, so it is nothing that we haven’t dealt with before and so we are just going to go out and full-tail it like we always do.”

The Cats took an early lead in the top of the 1st inning but were quickly silenced when the Wolfpack scored two runs with back-to-back home runs from Stephen Pitarra and Josh McLain.

After a solo shot to right-center field in the 3rd inning from Pompey, the Cats tied it at 2-2 where the score would remain until a triple from Evan Mendoza in the 5th inning that scored two runs. 

Down two in the top of the 9th, Evan White hit a solo home run to right-center field and cut the deficit, the Cats only needing one more run to tie the game. Despite the rally, the Cats fell short. 

Sophomore right-hander Justin Lewis took the mound for the Cats and pitched five innings, allowing seven hits and five runs. Lewis had another scary moment, much like in the SEC Tournament, where he was hit by a line drive and seemed to lose his command. 

Junior left-hander Zach Logue replaced Lewis in the 6th inning and finished the game, allowing only two hits and striking out four batters. 

NC State’s Michael Bienlien started for the Wolfpack, but was taken out after two at-bats. Sean Adler replaced Bienlien after pitching in the game on Friday and went 7.2 innings, allowing only two runs and six hits. 

The Cats will now face No. 2 Indiana on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in an elimination game. The winner of the matchup will play again at 7:00 p.m. against NC State, hoping to force them into a final game on Monday.